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HealthSpring Becomes First Major Medicare Plan to Establish Facebook Presence.

Medicare plan HealthSpring today became the first major Medicare Advantage plan to establish a presence on popular social media site Facebook. “Our research tells us that many Medicare beneficiaries – and even more of their children or younger individuals soon becoming eligible for Medicare – use the Internet regularly and are looking to the web for information about key decisions such as choosing a Medicare plan,” HealthSpring Vice President of Marketing Mark Tinsey said. “We are excited to expand our online presence through Facebook and provide further access to information for prospective members and the general public.”

HealthSpring said it will use Facebook to establish a branding presence and provide visitors with basic information about the company. The site features video clips and photos from the company’s current advertising campaign and directs visitors to HealthSpring’s website or phone lines for more information.

Establishing a Facebook presence required approval through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that oversees Medicare plans such as HealthSpring, the company said. “We were surprised to find when we approached CMS about Facebook that no other plans were trying to do this,” Tinsey said. “I’m certain it will soon become common practice, and we’re pleased to have been able to work through the process with CMS to get approval and establish compliance guidelines for how Facebook can be used.”

“We think it’s important to provide as many ways as possible for the public to learn about HealthSpring,” Tinsey said. “Particularly as baby boomers become eligible for Medicare, it just makes sense that Facebook would be one of those ways.”

HealthSpring is based in Nashville, Tenn., and is one of the country’s largest Medicare Advantage coordinated care plans. HealthSpring currently owns and operates Medicare Advantage plans in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas and also offers a national stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plan. For more information, visit www.healthspring.com.